SOULs
by Kelster Lynn
Summary: The Dragon comes to aid the exhausted rescue team from Hueco Mundo. Before this moment though, its thoughts are compiled and its transformation has been shown. In ways, a sequel to "Cero". Includes Orihime, rescuers, An Espada, and the girl left behind.


A/N: I actually wrote this one before my other Bleach fanfic.

It was written on paper during the school year.

It's more well-written, I think.

* * *

_Ichigo…_

_Ichigo…_

_Ichigo, this is all your fault._

That was the thought that ran through her head as the mask started to materialize.

Behind her, someone mumbled something.

She turned her head to look at the source of the voice. Her eyes fell upon her best friend, Orihime.

Orihime's face was full of emotion. But the one that stood out the most…

…was FEAR.

The eye's' owner moved over to her childhood friend. She saw has face going through a million scenarios of what could have happened while he was away.

What could have happened to make her like this.

Like Orihime, his face also had a lot of emotion. But unlike Orihime, he had more than one emotion visible, and he also had an emotion that he kept going back to, that stood out more than his other features; ANGER.

As she saw his face rest on his anger, in spite of herself, she smirked.

Then she grinned.

Then she laughed.

And her laugh bordered on insane. It scared Orihime even more than she thought she could be scared. And it chilled Ichigo to the bone.

She laughed as the mask faded to become a jaw and horns. She laughed as wings started to become visible. And she laughed as the zanpakuto started to change its form.

And then she quieted down, looking at the faces before her.

First, Ishida. Before, she had only thought of him as the smartest kid in school, and Orihime's craft buddy. But now, she knew that he was part of a hollow-hunting group. And that his group, the Quincies, were rival to Ichigo's and Rukia's.

Then, her attention focused on Chad. He had been a friend that Ichigo met in junior high, during a fight that Ichigo had been in. Their reputations grew, and soon they had been widely known and feared. Chad had, in some way, replaced her. She looked at his arms. They both had a weird type of armor. _Who knew they could get any bigger,_ she thought.

Next, her eyes hovered to Renji. He had transferred to Karakura along with four other strange people. She shifted her gaze to Rukia. Something, she remembered, had always nagged at the back of her head that gave a faint vision in the winter of that person. Now she knew shy. Rukia had been here at the beginning of summer, but also the middle of last year's winter. And during that time, Rukia had been with Ichigo, Orihime, Chad, and Ishida.

Finally, she rested her heavy gaze upon Orihime and Ichigo.

These two were her best and closest friends. She had looked out for, and protected them. She had always been there with them. She was their nakama.

But…

…apparently that meant nothing anymore.

They had both betrayed her, by abandoning her when they hadn't needed her anymore.

In their eyes, she was probably weighing them down.

And the worst part of it was…

…they didn't tell her anything.

Even when she had confronted Ichigo, he had told her it didn't concern her. She had been told by a strange man in a green and white-striped hat, who seemed to know more than he let on.

She learned that she had actually had two hollow encounters and had nearly been killed by two espada. The first hollow had apparently been Orihime's brother, who had come back wrought with jealousy that Orihime had been spending a lot of time with her and talked about Ichigo too. The second hollow, was when Orihime had her powers awakened, as she had learned. A hollow had attacked Orihime by firing seeds into other students while she had been changing out of her karate gi. She also learned that she had been hit by seeds, and had hurt Orihime. That was when Orihime's powers awakened, and when Orihime no longer needed her.

But her first espada attack was something that she would never forget. Even if a chikan had been used on her. It had been so clear, but at the same time so fuzzy. There had been an overwhelming presence, one that had nearly crushed her. But there had also been a force that had made her stare into a blur that became incredibly clear. The figure had been huge and beside that mass had been another, stronger being. She had nearly died that day, until Orihime and Chad showed up. Soon after, she couldn't see anymore, but she knew that they had stood, trying to protect her.

They had stood until Ichigo arrived, to save theirs, and her life. Ichigo had stood until everyone was safe.

And she hadn't even been standing.

She had been on the ground.

And worthless.

As she focused back into reality, she realized her thoughts had been composed into five timely seconds, and her wings were formed.

Everyone was in terrible shape.

Everyone except her.

Finally, the clothes over her heart in the center of her chest started to twist. They then ripped off, revealing a hole. Chains came out and twisted themselves around her body as well as her sword.

Her friends gasped at the sight looming before them.

A white dragon with chains engulfing itself from the hole in its chest, hung vicariously in the air before them.

And then, the dragon spoke.

"This is all your fault, Ichigo."

It lunged forward, towards the cero espada.

The one that had nearly killed it when it was still a human.

"Tatsuki!!!!!" Ichigo cried out.

* * *

A/N: The title is taken from the character book of Bleach. _Bleach: (Official Character Book) SOULs_. Basically the title also comes from Tatsuki's preference of everybody as well. Like, her own black book. (_DeathNote_, anyone?) Just kidding.

Hope you enjoyed.

_Sayonara._


End file.
